MOON 0.5 // THE BEGINNING
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ⟡ 𖤓 ⟡ ˚｡ ･ ─────────
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ⟡ 𖤓 ⟡ ˚｡ ･ ─────────
The sun dipped over the horizon. Dark, lacy clouds hung overhead, drifting across the sky. It was painted with a chilling range of dark colors. The branches twisted and gnarled, allowing miniature specks of remaining light to reflect against the dead leaves that were scattered across the forest floor.
Every once in a while, Mercy would hear a crunching sound as she padded through the leaves. As she stopped and sniffed the ground, a gentle breeze flowed through her pelt and allowed it to move outwards in the wind. It reminded her of the tender licks her mother would give her dirt-ridden fur. Even with how frustrated she was, Mercy would still give her that same grin, her small tail rapidly pounding against the earth, proudly showing off her teeth that were tiny but sharp like flintstones.
She paused. She caught the scent of something, but she was unsure what it was. She lowered her head and padded through the grass, her cold nose scuffing against the hard earth as she followed the direction of the smell. As she walked, the scent got stronger, and she ripped her snout from the ground to hastily shake her head. Different kinds of scents were muddled together, flooding her nose and filling it with unpleasant smells. Focus, Mercy, she thought. She shut her eyes.
She raised her head and sniffed the air. The musky scent of a fox filled her nostrils, along with the noxious scent of–
She widened her eyes.
DECAY.
Mercy let out a small gasp before curing her lip and taking a few steps back. There was no mistaking it, but it had been so long since she'd smelled decay as strongly as this. Something felt wrong. She needed to investigate.
Mercy let her nose take the lead and trotted off. As she got closer, the stench of rotting meat left no room to mistake it for something else. As she got closer to the smell's source, the she-wolf stopped in her tracks and dug her claws into the soil. The trees that surrounded her made her want to turn on her heels and scamper off; the way they circled around her made her feel she was about to be suffocated by them, drowning in their twisting branches and rough bark. A good leader resisted against daring conditions. She stayed in her place and lifted her ears.
Behind the maze of towering trees, Mercy could hear loud yelping noises and growls, almost similar to the yipping sounds of young pups. Her tail twitched in anticipation. She lowered her body and crawled forth, hurrying from bush to bush and peeking her head out ever so often. A good leader shows swiftness.
As the smell of fox and decay grew, she could tell she was close, until she finally found the scene. She stayed behind the largest tree she could find and stuck to it, feeling the grainy texture scuff against her fur. She swore she could've heard the yipping of multiple foxes, but now, she could hear nothing except for chewing. She swallowed hard and tried to push all of her anxieties away. A good leader shows no fear.
Mercy flicked her tail and slowly peered out from behind the tree, keeping the rest of her body rooted tightly against the grain.
It was a fox. A fox… eating another fox.
Suddenly, her mouth was as dry as dirt. She tried to look around, but all of her jittered head movements were cut short as she forced herself to look at the violent scene. She felt stuck in place, her body sticking closely to the tree, fur tufts clinging onto it like tiny burs. The only body part she felt she could reliably move around were her eyelids, which were blinking rapidly as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
The fox wildly tore away at the body beneath it. The metallic smell of blood hung over the mangled fox, but that was when she realized that the smell of decay wasn't coming from the dead fox; no, it gave off the familiar smell of fresh blood. It was coming from the living one.
Thick drool hung from its lips. Its skin sagged off of its body, hanging limply as the fox moved in a frenzy. The small fox's lack of a full coat revealed frail bones just underneath its skin, poking out of its thin body as if they were demanding to escape its body. But the poor thing was still trying to cling onto life, despite all of its rabid shivers and twitches.
If Mercy's ears were flattened against her head any further, they would've cracked through her skull. Her eyes softened as she observed the fox. She'd never seen an animal eat another of its kind, but this animal was starving. She of all wolves would know that a starving animal would do anything to survive.
But what about the sagging skin? The drool? The smell of decay? Mercy had never seen such an odd combination of traits. She wanted to bring it to camp to nurse it back to health, but something told her to stay away from it and her gut was never wrong. Its condition hinted that it was going to take its last breath any day now. She'd seen enough.
"Oh, you poor thing…" The she-wolf whispered as she rose to her haunches. But as soon as she took her first step, she heard a loud crack behind her. A bone-chilling screech rang through her ears and reverberated through the trees. She raised her tail in alarm and turned around. The fox was facing her.
Slimy, torn-up entrails were at the fox's side. Tears streamed endlessly from its foggy eyes, pooling at the bottom of the skin hanging underneath it that should've been its eyelids. A few squirming maggots fell out of its drooping ears. As it panted, sucked-in air revealed the structure of its small ribs. It let out a low growl at the she-wolf.
Mercy stepped forward to face the vixen head on. She kept her tail erect and head up high, her throat rumbling as she growled back. She wanted to give the fox a chance, but if it charged at her, she'd taint the forest floors with chunks of its decaying flesh. You will respect me, kit.
But she was pleasantly surprised. After a few heavy seconds, the brittle vixen backed up to the dead fox behind it. Slowly, it turned back to its departed friend and continued to take bites out of its body; gently this time around. So it was trying to protect its prey. That's what I thought, cub, she thought as she turned away.
The sound of the fox's chewing and the smell of decay faded as the she-wolf glided through the labyrinth of trees. The stars hung overhead, soon to be accompanied by the moon when the clouds would finally drift away. Until then, its silver silhouette peered through the fog. It wouldn't be long before its enchanting glow declared the end of the day for wolves and the start for the creatures of the night.
Mercy made her way back to her pack without any sudden disturbances. As she made her way there, thoughts of her most recent interaction hung in her mind. What was such an oddly-behaved fox doing so close to her territory? Could it have been carrying something, or had it fallen prey to the harsh conditions of the deciduous forest? What should her next move be?
And what could this mean for her own pack?
No. She was worrying too much. It wouldn't make sense for this to affect her own pack. It was just a starving fox. It'll succumb to its condition in a couple of days at best. How could such a puny thing harm them?
… Despite her efforts, she still felt uncertain.
She'll figure it out.
She always does.
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ⟡ 𖤓 ⟡ ˚｡ ･ ─────────
|
